What is a good DDR motherboard?

[penob23]

I am building my first computer and i have been looking at the Asus A7M for my motherboard. It was recomended by a local computer store, but if there are any comparible boards that are just a good but cheaper i would be glad to know. If there are any tha are more expensive but you feel that they are worth the exta money i would be gla to know about those too.

this is the computer that i am building

 

[zzzz]

ECS K7S5A..Should be about $73 shipped.

 

[Buz2b]

As was mentioned, the ECS K7S5A board is a very good board at a bargin price; for now. It is still new to the market and has very favorable reviews. Consequently, some places have already started raising prices on it and it is sometimes hard to get. A word about the A7M266: It is an excellent board and you really can't go wrong with it. Very good quality and very stable. I just built my system with this board a couple of months ago and I am very pleased. However, if you think you may be planning to do any overclocking, the ASUS is not for you. It can do some limited overclocking but lacks a multiplier adjustment to make this better. I run my 1.33 @ 1.45 with it though. Right now the ECS board is likewise limited but there is a version of an "overclocking BIOS" floating around out there that could change things. Just thought you might want to know.

 

[Athlon4all]

For the most stable sys money can buy, A7M266. For incredible ocing, EPoX 8K7A+, for a good combo of ocing, stability, and performance, Abit KG7-RAID, Gigabyte GA-7DXR, or MSI K7 Master. ECS is probably the highest perfoming solution here, and is on par as stability goes, but ocing is limited.

 

[redbaron]

EPOX 8KHA, runs nice and stable ,and it's bug-free.

 

[Insane3D]

"for a good combo of ocing, stability, and performance, Abit KG7-RAID"

Interesting how you suggest the KG7-R as a "good combo of ocing, stability, and performance" when it isn't even out yet... Are you relying on the few reviews as the bottom line of how this board performs? Some people would find it funny to have Abit and stability in the same sentence.

"For the most stable sys money can buy, A7M266."

Yeah, spend ~$80 more for less options, less expansion, and no more stability than any other DDR board on the market. Oh...but it's an Asus...must be great!

 

[Buz2b]

<< Interesting how you suggest the KG7-R >>



<< Oh...but it's an Asus...must be great! >>

Gee, and here I thought they just wanted opinions on &quot;What is a good DDR motherboard&quot;! If I'd have known they wanted opinions on other people's opinions I would have said something like &quot;It is my opinion that Insane3D should express his ideas on the subject and not ridicule other people's opinions&quot;.

 

[Insane3D]

I am trying to save the guy some money and trouble. First of all, give me one reason why the A7M is worth the extra cost. It has limited overclocking capabilities, a useless AMR/CNR slot, only 4 PCI slots, and it's no more or less stable than any other mainstream DDR board. You are paying for the Asus name. Second, for a first time builder, an Abit board would not be the best choice as they can take quite a bit of tweaking and problem solving before they work like they are supposed too...I speak from experience. Also, the board has not even been released yet. There is very limited real world experience with this board and it's performance and stability are totally unproven as of yet. It might be a great board, but it also might not. The A7M is a nice board, but it's way overpriced and limited in it's options. I was also replying to his response because I always see him suggesting the MSI or Asus for &quot;stability&quot; when they are no more or less stable then any other mainstream DDR motherboard. As for my suggestions, the 8K7A or 8KHA for non-RAID boards, or the GA-7DXR or the 8K7A+ for RAID capable boards. The Soyo K7V Dragon is also nice for mild overclocking.


You might want ot lighten up and not take things so seriously. I actually forgot to make my suggestions in the above thread...thanks for reminding me. I was hardly &quot;ridiculing&quot; his opinion, just trying to make sure the facts were clear. If that offends or bothers you, I am deeply sorry....

 

[Buz2b]

I'll keep this short (yeah right) so we don't get too far off topic. The ASUS has 5, not 4 PCI slots. The 5th is shared with the &quot;useless AMR&quot; (not CNR) slot. Since the AMR is &quot;useless&quot;, the PCI slot is available as the 5th. The ASUS got &quot;the name&quot; for a reason; it earned it by quality control and good price/value offerings. As someone pointed out, it wasn't always that way with ASUS. The A7M was one of the first DDR offerings and as such has had time to solve most of the nagging problems you see plaguing other, less mature boards. This maturity, with the resulting *proven* stability, along with the quality of the board construction contribute to a piece of mind that, to me and perhaps others, is worth a few bucks more. That's an opinion backed by the facts as I see them. As to the ABIT, many times millions of dollars have changed hands due to the reviews and opinions of others. Sometimes that is the best we have to go on and is why we read them. Quoting or parroting those opinions is not much different than posting the URL to the review and saves the reader some time.
Perhaps you're right and I do take things too seriously here. But Forums like this have enabled me, in a relatively short period of time, to go from being afraid to even open the case of a computer to being confident and able to build one from the ground up: No small feat for an &quot;old fart&quot; like me. I'll make you a deal, you remind me when I start getting too serious and I'll remind you when you start giving &quot;opinions on opinions&quot; instead of on the products.

 

[Zuluwarrior]

80 percent of the threads here are responses to other people's opinions, &quot;jim bob sez board a is good and fred either agrees
or disagrees and sez why&quot;

I think it's a valid thing to speak when someone recommends
a board that hasn't even been released yet and calls it &quot;stable&quot;

How do you know it's stable???? It's like you saying I'm stable, u don't know me! I most assuredly am &quot;not&quot; stable......WHO SAID THAT?????? WHY ARE ALL THESE BUGS CRAWLING ALL OVER MY BODY!!! YIKES!!!!

seriously,

The Asus is a damn nice board and expensive as all hell.

You want something just as good for a lot less money,
spend 119 bucks and get the Epox 8k7a! 760 chipset, DDR,
overclocks like a little bitch with zero effort, and
just is a real pleasure to use.

I've had one on, oclocked to 1.4 from 1.2, for 24/7 for 2 months
with not one single hiccup and my temps are very very low.

What more do u want?

 

[SpaceRanger]

I've decided to buy the DF AK-76 mobo instead of waiting for the Epox and Asus boards to hit the market (Are they still being delayed?) Anyways.. I'll be able to put a more detailed response of the board until then, but at 110 bucks for the mobo, how can I really go that wrong?